


Just Like the Ones I Used to Know

by SarahJeanne



Category: Shelter (2007)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-08
Updated: 2010-02-08
Packaged: 2017-10-07 03:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahJeanne/pseuds/SarahJeanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snapshots of Christmases, past and present</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like the Ones I Used to Know

**Author's Note:**

> For shelter_diner's Holiday Fest 2009. A series of drabbles using the prompts candy canes, Shaun gives Zach his Christmas present early, decorating, eggnog and brandy, and Christmas dinner.

**One**

_(Then)_  
Shaun opened the fridge; his hand stuck to the handle. He looked outside; Gabe and Zach were running around the yard, ends of candy canes sticking out of their mouths. The skin around their lips was tinged red, so was the fridge.

He walked outside. "Hey! You're a mess. You've got sticky hands."

"We don't care!" Gabe yelled.

"No school for two weeks!" Zach added.

"Come clean up, then you can go back to celebrating."

Shaun supervised them washing hands and faces. "What have you touched since you got home?"

"A lot?" Gabe shrugged.

Shaun grabbed a sponge, and sighed.

 

_(Now)_  
Shaun turned from the stove when Zach walked in the door. He crooked his finger in the curve of candy cane, pulled it out of his mouth with a pop, and kissed Zach.

"Minty." Shaun smiled. "You realize it's Halloween? You're two months early."

"Not my fault. They were selling them right next to the Halloween candy."

"But you bought them."

"I couldn't resist. It's never to early for Christmas."

"Not true. Have you ever spent time with a little kid in the lead up to Christmas?"

"Oh." Shaun looked stricken. "I should probably hide these."

"Please. Save our sanity."

 

**Two**

_(Then)_  
The boys ran around the yard with clearly elaborate scenarios as the background for their water fight. Shaun watched from where he lounged by the pool. Zach, with his puny water gun, was no match for the other boys and their gigantic machine water guns. At least he didn't look like he was letting it stop him from having a good time.

The next time Zach came over, Shaun called him aside and handed him a brand-new Super Soaker 300. "I can't take this," Zach said, looking at the toy longingly.

"Sure you can. It's a Christmas present. Just, early."

 

_(Now)_  
The house was quiet; Cody was asleep. Zach stared at the metal star lying in the box. "What did you--?"

"I found the pieces in the bottom of that box of Christmas stuff. I also found the picture of your mom, holding you up while you put it on the tree."

Zach slowly drew his finger along one point. He could feel the seam. "How did you fix it?"

"I found someone who does metal work. I wanted to give it to you now, so you can enjoy it."

"It was her favorite." Zach leaned his head against Shaun, wistful.

 

**Three**

_(Then)_  
Jeanne grabbed the star out of Zach's hands.

"Hey! _Mom_! She took it from me."

Their mother put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Who did it last year?"

Jeanne and Zach pointed at each other.

"He can't even reach." Jeanne stood on a chair on the tips of her toes, and placed the star on the tree. Then she stuck her tongue out at Zach and flounced off to her room.

"She always gets to do everything," Zach said, upset.

"It looks a little crooked to me. Why don't I pick you up so you can fix it?"

 

_(Now)_  
"Doesn't it look cool?" Cody jumped around pointing to the newly lit tree.

Shaun whispered to Zach. "The lights got tangled. I may have taught him some new words."

"Nothing he didn't learn when we were getting it in the stand."

"Can we put the ornaments on now? Shaun said we had to wait and you took _forever_."

Zach ruffled Cody's hair. "Get to it."

With a frenzied five-year-old, decorating went quickly. Shaun intervened, making sure _some_ ornaments ended up at the top of the tree.

Zach picked up Cody to put the star on top of the tree. _Perfect_.

 

**Four**

_(Then)_  
Thirty minutes after Gabe dumped whatever-that-was in the eggnog, Tori was trying to take off Zach's shirt in one corner and Gabe was trying to get off Katie's shirt in another. They all froze at the knock on the door.

"Do you kids need anyth--?" Gabe's mom stopped talking as she smelled the alcohol.

Later that night, after everyone had been kicked out and Gabe had been banished to his room for the foreseeable future, Shaun poked his head into Gabe's room.

"_Amateur_. Talk to me when I'm home this summer and I'll show you how _not_ to get caught."

 

_(Now)_  
Zach was pleasantly warm. From the outside, because Shaun was pressed against him on the couch, and from the inside, because Shaun had a loose wrist when he was pouring brandy into the eggnog. They'd finished stacking presents under the tree half and hour ago and the cookies Cody left out for Santa were gone twenty-five minutes ago. Now, they were lounging on the couch in the soft light from the tree, enjoying the quiet. Zach could've sat there forever and been happy.

"He's going to be up early." Shaun started kissing Zach's neck.

"Mmmm," Zach sighed. "Bed?"

"Yes. Bed."

 

**Five**

_(Then)_  
The four of them were jammed into the little hospital room. Gift bags littered the bed. Zach, Jeanne, and their father had McDonald's. Their mother had an untouched tray of hospital food, but she was sitting up and talking. It was a good day.

Jeanne took one bite of her burger, clapped a hand over her mouth, and went running for the bathroom.

"She's been sick for weeks now," Zach said. "Maybe she shouldn't be in here with you."

"Weeks?" his mother asked.

"At least three now."

She closed her eyes. "Promise me you won't let her hold you back."

 

_(Now)_  
Zach wrestled with the endless mass of plastic pieces in the living room, trying to assemble them into something that would vaguely resemble the picture on the box. He could hear Cody setting the table in the kitchen, while Shaun scrambled to get everything on the table at the same time.

"Zach, dinner!" Cody yelled. Zach gladly left the plastic mess behind. He slid into a chair and surveyed the table: roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots drenched in sugar, and a plate of chocolate chip pancakes. Shaun on his left and Cody on his right. He couldn't want anything more.


End file.
